The wife of Cameroon’s vice prime minister was kidnapped and at least three people were killed in an attack by Boko Haram militants in the northern town of Kolofata on Sunday, Cameroon officials said.

A local religious leader, or lamido, named Seini Boukar Lamine, who is also the town’s mayor, was kidnapped as well, in a separate attack on his home. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Boko Haram, the Nigerian Islamist militant group, has stepped up cross-border attacks into Cameroon in recent weeks as Cameroon has deployed troops to the region, joining international efforts to combat the militants.

“I can confirm that the home of Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali in Kolofata came under a savage attack from Boko Haram militants,” Issa Tchiroma told Reuters by telephone. “They unfortunately took away his wife. They also attacked the lamido’s residence and he was also kidnapped,” he said, and at least three people were killed in the attack.

A Cameroon military commander in the region told Reuters that the vice prime minister, who was at home to celebrate the Muslim feast of Ramadan with his family,was taken to a neighboring town by security officials.

“The situation is very critical here now, and as I am talking to you the Boko Haram elements are still in Kolofata town in a clash with our soldiers,” said Colonel Felix Nji Formekong, the second commander of Cameroon’s third inter-army military region, based in the regional headquarters Maroua.

The Sunday attack is the third Boko Haram attack into Cameroon since Friday. At least four soldiers were killed in the previous attacks.

Meanwhile, some 22 suspected Boko Haram militants, who have been held in Maroua since March, were on Friday sentenced to prison sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years. It was unclear whether the events are related.

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BEEG EAGLE -perspectives of an opinionated Nigerian male with a keen interest in Geopolitics, Defence and Strategic Studies

Members of the Boko Haram terrorist group have carried out two cross- border attacks into Cameroon since Friday, killing at least four soldiers and prompting the Cameroonian army to send reinforcements to the area, army sources said on Saturday.

Cameroon beefed up border security
after the Nigerian government stressed the need for Cameroon to do more to counter Islamist insurgents, deploying over 1,000 soldiers along its remote jungle border.

The Nigerian government believes Boko Haram wants to use Cameroon as a rear base as it strives to carve out an Islamic state. The group has killed thousands in its five-year insurgency.

Cameroonian regional military
commander, Colonel Felix Nji
Formekong, told Reuters that four
soldiers had been killed in clashes with Boko Haram fighters at the village of Bargaram, without giving further detail. A soldier based in the area,who requested anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to the media, said another 13 of his comrades were missing after the attack, which took place late at night.

He said that Boko Haram had attacked again in the night from Friday to Saturday but that the Cameroonian army had succeeded in pushing them back. “We are currently in a real battle front and more of our soldiers have been sent
in from Maroua to assist us,” he added, referring to the regional headquarters.

The attack at Bargaram came barely two weeks after Boko Haram attacked the same locality, kidnapping a 20-year old civilian.

Meanwhile, some 22 suspected Boko
Haram militants who were held in
Maroua since March, were on Friday
sentenced to prison sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years.According to the regional state radio
station CRTV in Maroua, they were found guilty of illegal possession of firearms and plotting a regional insurrection.

If the vice premier was in town with his wife, how come the security officials took him away to a safe place and not his wife too hmmm……in any case I hope this really wakes Cameroon up the urgent need to collaborate with Nigeria.

I hope Biya is not going to pay an other ransom, I think this is a job for our special forces, we have to get those kidnapped people out (alive if possible) before Biya gets any opportunity to pay a ransom.

I commiserate with our Cameroonian “brethren” the quotation marks are mine. Most regrettably it is blood spilled brethren lost that will bind us together as one, when the military guys from both countries meet now they will now have a grim understanding that surpasses words we have the same enemy.
We -TOLD- YOU.- SO CAMEROON if your neighbor’s house is on fire please grab buckets and put it out.Cameroon has to understand this is not a photo op war, this -is -a -nasty -, filthy,- behind -the- curtain – the -man -with- biggest- gun- and intelligence-wins
Welcome CAMEROON Welcome.

I wish our neighbours had not left this to fester. Looking through the archives of this blog, I have posted blog entries or made comments relating to BH-related activities in northern Cameroonian towns from as long ago as 2011-2012!!

Towns such as Kousseri, Dabanga, Fotokol, Amchide etc come to mind. Why did they refuse to act against their presence? The war is on now and Cameroon are going to feel the heat more than any of the neighbours around our Lake Chad corridor. It appears as if the BH goons have become so comfortable there that they now feel a sense of entitlement about their presence there.

When sometime ago I pointed the toothlessness of the ‘Cameroon Airforce’ someone was making a case for them having some southafrican jets and Tow missile helos, WHERE ARE THEY? Ever since they deployed some meager battalion to their northern region we’ve never heard of an air strike or support from their ‘airforce’. They failed to understand that the air is a game changer anytime. BIYA, please do something for and with your airforce, no matter how little ,i beg you. Anyways , as for naija DHG, please 40 helos, good but we need more and i can’t for them to start blasting those rams.

What is your problem with Cameroon paying ransom? An important man’s life is involved. The game was already lost when they allowed BH to fester within the region. On top of that they could not hold them back during the fire fight and call for reinforcements until the kidnap happened. What if BH dont want ransom? What if this is just a play to ensure that their camps are not attacked by Cameroon. We continue to lose the game and reject the consequences pf the loss.

And how is Nigeria going to prevail on a sovereign francophone country under the influence of France not to pay ransom? Maybe they should also be ordering us around on what to do with the Chibok girls.

Cameroune has no right to pay ransom to these boko homos, if they do then they would be arming their enemy and even worse they would be arming our enemy. Those are two actions with grave consequences. Paying ransom to terrorists is not a right, it is a crime. It is not about respecting their sovereignty, it is about common sense. Arming the enemies of a foreign nation is an act of war. Moreover the UN is making some international laws to heads of states from committing these crimes.

Arejames your comment here is a little strange, it seems like you are about to urge cameroon to pay a ransom. Are you in such a haste to see more Nigerian deaths ! come on be serious. We can not allow any ransom to be payed and the best way to avoid this is intelligence on those who might be tempted to pay a ransom and also the use of our special forces to free the kidnapped people (alive if possible). I think some people still don’t understand what ransom paying to terrorists does to the nation in which those terrorists are trying to wreack havoc. Do you really think france and cameroon would have paied boko haram ransom if boko haram was wreaking havoc in paris ? The person being short changed is the guy on whose soil the terrorists are trying to wreack havoc. I vote for us to stop this from happening again, by any means necessary …

Nigeria is getting hotter, and Chad is hot too, Cameroun is the weaker vessel in the lake Chad basin. Well I warned that Cameroun was joking with 1,000 elite special forces they deployed to fight Boko Haram that is so mobile and stealthy, how does 1,000 soldiers fly around like spirits to protect their land from Borno to Adamawa? Even Nigeria with 20,000 soldiers is still sweating.

I said Biya should put a whole brigade of his army and back up with a whole division of Gendarmes or else the fire will spread inside his trousers. Anyway, France will likely come save him like Mali.

What is happening here is that BH wants to now hold territory, like ISIS. They want to carve out parts of Cameroon and Nigeria and hold fast via hostages they have and even more dastardly actions. They are obviously holding on to tracts of territory in Cameroon even though our neighbours just wont admit it. We cannot afford any more Damboas in this war. It is time to commence mop up operations.

Cameroon is potentially more serious about Boko Haram than Nigeria they have just cynically elected to do nothing for a long time hoping to weaken us. However, the border controls are actually stricter on the Cameroon side. Their army though smaller is more disciplined and their special forces personnel are younger, brighter and better equipped..at least for now. All the choppers we are just buying now, they started on that journey before us.http://rostec.ru/en/news/2838

Their army is certainly not more disciplined that rs and their special forces are from from being at the level of ours. Tell me how many attack helicopters they have before saying they started this before us. We also had attack helicopters before the year 2013 and certainly more than they do have now. I am fed up of this constant self bashing.

Their army is certainly not more disciplined that ours and their special forces are far from being at the level of ours. Tell me how many attack helicopters they have before saying they started this before us. We also had attack helicopters before the year 2013 and certainly more than they do have now. I am fed up of this constant self bashing. They seriously lack combat experience as well.

@Are James.
I know you are trying to light a fire under our military leadership, but the comment that contains the following fragment is stretching it a lot: “Cameroon is potentially more serious about Boko Haram than Nigeria they have just cynically elected to do nothing for a long time.”

How can one be more serious, yet elect to do nothing? And what is “potential more serious” anyway ? 🙂

Cameroun is a small, weak country and it’s armed forces has no depth. It is a paper armed forces and there isn’t much on paper either.

I hope they don’t deploy the gun-trucks amounted with twin 14.5mm HMGs – that would just be Christmas present for BH.

France should quickly step in and deploy some air assets to help Cameroun; apart from their 700 strong SF battalion, they have got nothing.

Oga doziex Thank you for comments .Hopefully in your spare time you will read about.Tunsia’s recent $700m air purchases, from uncle sam.Why did I mention them because for the last three years they have been sleepwalking through their problems. Remember Tunisia is much closer to Libya than Nigeria and yet they have begun to smell the coffee beans.Since I am not a soldier I am not under such restrictions I will continue to report on bringing the Nigerian army into the modern social area. T-Mobile. America’s First Nationwide 4G Network

This wahala started with somone arrogantly suggesting that we should instruct Cameroon not to pay rsnsom and then quickly dispatch our SFs to conduct a rescue mission inside cameroon. My point was..thats nigeria twenty something years ago in africa The nigeria we are begging to go back to be. If we try such a stunt now, they will send back a letter that they only take such instructions from France, help is not required and in any cas we should quickly #”bring back their gurls””

arejames, your comments are still above, everybody can see you are supporting the payment of ransom to boko homos and not standing against my so called “arrogance”.
The suggestions I made are out of necessity and certainly not arrogance. It is funny to see the little value you put on hundreds of NIgerian lives.

Of all the nations currently involved Cameroon is most certainingly the least prepared to deal with Boko haram.oga beegs mentioned the border called Amcihide that has witnessed running gun battles between Nigerian sf and bh while the bir only this year began to wake from performing presidential parade/protection duty.
It is really is laughable to compare Cameroon sf with Nigerian sf.one has extensive experience and was trained from the ground up the other is little more than a presidential protection piece.

Cameroon to Nigeria: Ermm, Naija, those people you wanted us not to pay ransom for?
Nigeria: Yes?
Cameroon:…well we just freed them.
Nigeria: Actually we wrote the letter as we were trying to verify that the people were actually kidnapped…and we had pictures..ermm…photocopied…and we were distributing and ..em.we had this committee to advise on how to constitute a proper investigation …. ..errmm panel…
Cameroon:(cuts in) So where are ‘our’ girls?
Nigeria: Your girls?

Don’t turn a good news into a bad news. People like you keep doing that.
And since when is rescuing 200 persons as easy as rescuing just one person. Let me also hint to you that more than 10 high profile cameroonians where kidnapped, only 1 is reported rescued, and the rescue was probably not by cameroon alone.

What has our army done wrong that you are insulting it ? How is the rescue of the cameroonian a bad news ? Please this madness needs to stop. This is a great news.
If this is the level of thinking of Nigerians then I am sorry to say this, but it is not far from totally dumb.

I happen to speak both french and english, so let me tell you something, the thing which is wrong in Nigeria is that many of us lack patriotism and disciplin. The words you say, no cameroonian would ever say such while talking about his country. When cameroonians talk about their armed forces, they do so with pride and self respect. Cameroonians stand as one against the enemy. cameroonians give info to their armed forces. in cameroon you don’t have a party considering the elected president as a worse enemy than boko haram, you don’t have senators and governors who keep siding terrorists against their own country. cameroon is the most corrupt country in the world yet you don’t have them constantly second guessing their COAS and their military. Everybody in Nigeria wants to be the captain while there is just one boat. in cameroon you don’t have a section of the population wishing the other section death. So let me tell you this: we need to change our attitude, we are the problem ! I am fed up of saying obvious things, but that goes to show how backword some people are. cameroon is a dictatorship, yet you don’t have all the noise we have in nigeria. Some sick people think security is for the government alone. I am beginning to ask myself if we own a monopoly for stupidity !

I dont for once presume that the standard of social advancement and emancipation in Nigeria should be the same as Cameroon. We are not on the same level and should not be. Thr N.Korean leader gets away with blue murder, let Obama try half of it and he is out of office..not even power the next day. It does not diminish us that we are a rambuctious bunch. Most negative comments about institutions like defence and power are made out of intense patriotism. If you like a cult of personality, an african big man syndrome in naija you are in the wrong place. Why should nigeria be fielding the same level of weaponry with cameroon?

When a country has potentials of an eagle and is acting the hen, criticisms will fly. The points i made initially were around the narrow parameters of how good it is to persuade cameroon not to pay ransom when it is the only option we are considering on the kidnapped girls..I was also questioning the idea of nigerian SF taking action in cameroon when hands ate full here. And then someone went completely into denial that cameroonians could not have done the rescue ops themselves in a kind of PHD exercise.

Look, the way you think has to be changed, I am trying as hard as possible not to insult you ! First of all we are not considering ransom payment to boko haram. The NA is all against that, the FG is all against that. And once again, the enemy is boko haram ! so it doesn’t matter where it is, our hands are not too full to go and destroy it ! You are making it look like fighting boko haram in a neighboring country is the same as going into the US to help it fight against its gangs ! Your way of thinking is not fit for a graduate or even a secondary school graduate. DO yourself a favor and take time to really think things through before saying illogical and unfounded things.

I think we should exercise restraint until all the details are in. I have checked AFP and Reuters, both of which have a solid reportorial presence in Cameroon and none has carried this story. Since when did Premium Times become a credible news source? They only exist to scandalise all non-APC governments across the federation, don’t they?

Thanks general, i just wonder why beegeagle bloggers who were once known to take all online reportage with skepticism could have just swallowed this news with hook line and sinker, when no news media with relaiable authority have given credence to the news, just blog, onlinereporters and newsrecyclers

The fact is that there used to be good levels of thinking here, now we have many people who don’t know logics. For the past month I have been saying obvious things, not because I love to waste my time but because some new crop of bloggers have failed common sense. But that is the “beauty” of the internet: a secondary school drop out can claim to be more qualified than albert einstein. I just went to sirius’s blog, the level of stupidity shown there is incredible. I just hope those guys are actually boko haram in disguise because if they aren’t then explain to me what they would gain by discrediting the NA officer corp ? apart from helping boko haram defeat us I can’t see !
Insults against the COAS and allegations of corruption and all were spewed there.
What you get is that either those guys are boko haram members or they think our army would fight better if soldiers didn’t follow orders ! It is very fortunate that I have no proof that those guys saying that are normal Nigerians, because if that is the general mentality back home then I want no part of it, then I am wasting my time. If the people are that stupid…

There is skewed logic and straight logic. The important thing is the premise. That it will rain tommorrow is s logical statement under a wrong premise that it rains every day in July in Nigeria. So throwing the word logic into everything is a mistake made by most first year law, philosophy or classics students. The usual way to stop them is what i just did …what is the premise.
In any case, this argument did not even start or have any thing to do with logic. It was all about premises.
1. Nigeria telling Cameroon not to pay ransom – what is the feasibility and ridiculibity (yes i said it because i am going to use that word again)
2. Nigeria telling cameroon that we are dispatching SFs and actually sending SFs to Cameroon of all countries -feasibility and ridiculibity

I see you continue going into things you are clueless about.
And still you are not making any sense.
What one gets is that you encourage paying ransom to boko haram.
Anyone can make his conclusion from that. By the way I wrote a thesis in model theory, so your pathetic attempt will remain there.

that was addressed to Are James, the guy who talks before he thinks or who just supports giving huge money to terrorists. I believe I have wasted too much of my time trying to correct some of your disturbing comments.

Ok so mathematicians are even worse. I think I should start avoiding you from now on. I am into optimization theory as a self taught hobby. Mathematics rests on axioms and fixed rules of manipulation…. try applying that to every day life where emotions rule everything. That Nigeria’s ever careful political leaders will strong arm a hostile neighbour of some years back and start dictating terms on how to deal with a BH when we have not shown an astute management of same at home. I am all for doing all that when Nigerian lives are involved but in this case no Nigerian diplomat or National security official will take your linear amateurish solutions serious. Look for something like the Nigerian journal of natural science to discuss your opinions.